It was a proud day when, after another hard fought victory, the DHAC/Allerton composite team were finally crowned as NEYDL Division 2 (South) Champions. They can now look forward to competing against the ‘big guns’ in Division 1 next season. The final meeting of the four was as action packed as ever with some top athletic performances along the way. The weather didn’t know what to do; with a combination of glorious sunshine and heavy downpoursadding fuel to the excitement! So here’sa brief run down of how the day went…….
Under 13 Boys It was another great day of athletics for Ashton Harrison. He continues to improve with his discus throwing and today his best was just shy of his PB with 15.27m, and enough to take 2nd place. We all know Ashton as a bit of an all rounder, but today he took on the 200m for the first time this season, and with impressive results. He dominated the race and crossed the line as the clear winner with a new PB of 29.8s.
It was great to see Noah Boyd taking part in his first NEYDL meeting, competing in the 800m. It was a very confident run, looking strong all the way. He paced it to perfection and crossed the line as the clear winner. Very impressive and one to watch for the future we’re sure! The 1500m was as popular as ever, with the U13 boys and U13 girls running together. For the boys it was our own Harry Lyons that took the initiative and lead from the start. He increased his lead as the race progressed and crossed the line in a comfortable 1st place with a very impressive PB of 5:01.1.
For Elwood Kelley, it was only his second 1500m of the season but he put in an excellent performance, also finishing with a new PB of 5:15.5 in 2nd place. Matthew Vest was our third blue & white to finish after a great effort finishing in 9th place in a time of 5:37.3. Elwood and Matthew were back in action in the long jump with some excellent jumping from both young athletes. Elwood took 2nd place with a best of 3.87m and Matthew 8th place with 3.23m. Well doneto all our U13 boys,a fantastic overall performance!
Under13 Girls There were five of our regular U13 girls in action today. As usual, our all-rounder, Tori Buckley took on a varied choice of disciplines, starting with the 800m; a tough race up against the seemingly unstoppable Isla Fishwick from Derwentside. Tori worked hard and ran the race well to finish in 4th place in a time of 2:44.9. Next up the javelin, an event she’s really taken to this season as she strives to perfect her technique. More great throws today with a best of 17.30m to take 3rd place, just 6cm off 2nd place!
Then onto the sprints and the 200m; another top performance, just a fraction off her PB with a time of 30.7s. Emily Hornsby was also in action in the sprints, taking on the 100m and the 200m. She was definitely on top form today coming away with a new PB in the 100m of 14.2s and matching her 30.5s PB in the 200m. It was fantastic to see Emily branching out with a crack at the shot put; not only did she set herself a new PB of 6.76m, she finished ina very comfortable 1st place! Outstanding!
More sprint action came in the form of young Isabelle Wright. A great effort from Isabelle today, who’s still in her first year at the age group. In the 100m she finished just 0.1s off her PB with a time of 15.0s, and it was her first NEYDL 200m where she put in an absolutely cracking time of 30.6s. We look forward to seeing Isabelle continue to improve into next season. Moving on to the 1500m we had Libby Hammond and Savannah Tarn.
A tough race running against the boys but the girls definitely put up a good battle, with Libby being the 3rd girl across the line in an excellent time of 5:26.1. Savannah wasn’t far behind, after an excellent last lap, pushing all the way to take 4th place in a time of 5:46.6, just a second off her PB! Both girls also took on the long jump with Libby’s best being 3.69m today, enough to take 5th place, and Savannah a couple of places behind in 7th place after jumping 3.12m. Well done to our U13 girls, some tremendous athletics from all!
Under15 Girls There were no U15 boys today, but the girls certainly made up for them with some excellent performances today. PB’s were dropping like flies and none more so than with sprinter, Kate Williams. First up was the 75m Hurdles where she smashed her previous best of 13.2s down to 12.6s to take 1st place. In the 100m she broke the 13.0s barrier to finish 1st with a new PB of 12.8s. And in the 200m she made it three wins out of three with yet another PB of 26.9s! Olivia Bell was in the same frame of mind with a new PB in the 100m of 13.7m, followed by a PB of 28.4s in the 200m. She even tried the shot put for a change, finishing in 2nd place with, you guessed it, another PB of 6.90m! Outstanding performances from the girls.
The 800m saw Marissa Boon and Lily Large giving it their all. A great run from both girls with Marissa taking 3rd place in 2:37.1 and Lily not far behind in 5th place, just sneaking a new PB in 2:39.6. Emily Vest was back for another crack at the 1500m; as usual she put up a great battle to take 3rd place in an excellent time of 5:40.4. Not her usual event, Emily also took on the long jump for the second time this season. She jumped really well and came away with a new PB of 3.48m to finish in 6th place. Lily Large also put in some great jumps with a best of 3.52m finishing just in front of Emily in 5th place.
More field events and Lily Thompson was up to her usual tricks of dominating the throws. In the discus she took 1st place with a solid 19.20m. It was another 1st place in the hammer with a best of 22.91m, and to make it 3 out of 3 she was the clear winner with a new PB in the shot after a huge throw of 10.15m (a Grade 1 throw!) And it was great to see Lissie Maxwell in action as well. Lissie took on the javelin where she finished an excellent 2nd place with a best of 10.54m, and she managed a fabulous PB of 6.39m in the shot to take 3rd place. A tremendous performance from our U15 girls, well done to all!
Under17 Girls It was great to see Charlotte Rutter back in action after her recent English Schools appearance. She had a busy day today with three events plus the relay. First up was the 80m Hurdles and a great start to the day – 1st place with a new PB of 11.9m. It was another 1st place and another PB in the 200m with a fantastic time of 26.5s. The high jump took place in the middle of a prolonged downpour with the athletes splashing down onto a slippery, wet mat! Charlotte still managed to put in some decent jumps with a best of 1.45m to make it 3 wins out of 3. Logan Fawcett also took part in the 80m Hurdles finishing in 3rd place just o
utside her PB with a time of 14.8m. She was due to take part in the 300m Hurdles but unfortunately had to pull out due to a back injury (hope all’s well now, Logan ☺) Sprinter, Leah Rutherford was in action taking on both the 100m and the 200m, and also the long jump. An impressive run in the 100m crossing the line in 1st place with a season’s best of 13.3s, followed by a 2nd place in the 200m with 28.9s. Another win followed in the long jump with a best of 4.59m being just 1cm off her PB!
It was great to see Caitlin Minns back again. She ran a rather impressive 300m winning by 4 seconds with a new PB of 43.3m followed by another 1st place in the triple jump with a best of 8.97m. And finally, where there’s one Thompson you can usually find the other….and like her younger sister, Rosie Thompson dominated the U17 throws. Impressive as ever, Rosie also made it 3 wins out of 3 throwing the 3k hammer a whopping 36.38m, the discus a solid 22.38m and a new PB in the 3k shot after a best of 10.22m. Like I said….impressive! An excellent show from our U17 girls, well done to all!
4 x 100mRelays As always, it was another exciting end to the day with the DHAC/Allerton teams dominating the relays. The U13 boys were clear winners over Houghton with Ashton and Elwood running tremendous 3rd and 4th legs. The U13 girls won by an even greater margin to overcome Chester-leStreet with some top sprinting from Isabelle, Emily and Tori. But perhaps the most impressive result, once again, came from the Under 15 girls including Olivia, Lily and Kate. They ran a storming race and managed to beat the U17 girls, which included the might of Charlotte and Logan. Their only disappointment was there were no boys teams to beat as they did at the previous NEYDL!
Overall it’s been an amazing season of meetings. The final points total for today was a massive 741 with our nearest rival being Birtley with 354 points. This surely illustrates the talent we have within the DHAC/Allerton composite team, and we can all look forward to competing in Division 1 next season. Congratulations to all who have playedtheir part in this year’ssuccess! #UTH
Many of you will know that as part of the club’s involvement in NEYDL we are required to provide supporting Officials at each meet. For the last three years Phil Allen, who has no formal affiliation to DHAC, has been our Level 2 Field Official. He committed his services to the club and registers as a DHAC Official, essentially allowing the club to compete and gaining us valuable points. At the final meet of the season, Phil was presented with a DHAC Queen’s Award for Volunteering badge in recognition of everything he does to support us. Heartfelt thanks go to Phil.
